for it consisted of a
motley sort of garment, composed of patches of almost every colored
cloth, with a cap or rather a crown of peacock's feathers. Arrived at
the place of interment, which was situated in the valley, the procession
halted at a freshly dug grave, and the bier was laid beside it. The
crowd formed themselves into a circle round it, and the Faquir holding
up a small idol, commenced an oration in which he expatiated on the
merits of the deceased. The crowd having prostrated themselves, the
Faquir took a reddish sort of powder, and made a large mark with it on
the forehead of the dead man; then taking a basket of freshly pulled
flowers and herbs he scattered them over the body and into the grave.
The mourners rising from the ground, and walking in single files round
the bier made a respectful salaam towards it, after which the corpse was
lowered perpendicularly into the earth, and the grave filled up. At the
conclusion, the Faquir sat himself on a stone at a short distance from
the grave, and remained there quietly smoking his hookah, and
philosophising, as all good Faquirs should do, on the uncertainty of
mundane things.

Our next destination was Dadur, where we were to form a junction with a
portion of the Bengal forces. The distance is only a day's march, and
nothing of interest occurred on the route. On approaching the encampment
of the Bengal troops, I could not help being struck with their superior
appearance. It was evident that their commissariat was better organized
than ours, for their camp equipage and other appointments were in all
respects complete, and they were abundantly supplied with necessaries of
every kind. This disparity was, in some degree, removed before we left
Dadur, by the arrival of additional supplies from Bombay.

A few days having been passed in recruiting our strength after these
fatiguing marches, we at length received orders to advance on the
celebrated Bholun Pass. Nothing could be more calculated to awaken us to
the difficulties of our position, or to impress us with the uncertainty
of the fate that awaited us, than the imposing grandeur of the scenery
on which we now entered. Let the reader picture to himself a gloomy
looking gorge winding through two ranges of stupendous hills, whose
rugged masses of rock and hanging declivities impend over the narrow
route as if about to choke it up, or recede a short distance to some
fortress-like looking freak of nature from whose im